Gustavo Alfaro and Jose Peseiro the two sides of the same coin.

In football there is an old premise that says "coach who makes his debut always wins", but for Gustavo Alfaro and José Peseiro, new coaches of the Ecuador and Venezuela teams respectively, in these nascent South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, this premise failed.

But nevertheless; Something differs in the actions of these two coaches that places them on opposite sides of the same coin and that is that while the Ecuadorian National Team lost in a result that could have been for anyone 1-0 against Argentina in Buenos Aires, and then beating Uruguay 4-2, Venezuela was terrible since they fell 3-0 against Colombia and 0-1 against Paraguay in the beautiful Venezuelan city of Mérida.

In the Caribbean country, the criticisms of José Peseiro did not wait but some specialists say that it is necessary to give him time, especially when Richard Páez, Cesar Farías, Noel Sanvicente and Rafael Dudamel, former technicians of the "vinotinto" took between 4 and 6 games to achieve the first victory.

The main mitigating factor in Peseiro's defense is that he did not have time to meet the players because they barely had the first full practice in the city of Barranquilla, home of the first match, but that is exactly where Gustavo Alfaro, an Argentine at the service of the The Ecuadorian team only did 3 training sessions prior to the first game, and unlike Peseiro who has been with Venezuela for 7 months, Alfaro has only been in Ecuador for 2 months, time that I take advantage of to know the characteristics of their players.

Alfaro even met with Jorge Célico, director of the training categories of the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation and coach of the sub-20, to know first-hand the situation of the national team, the players and the contribution of the young people.

José Peseiro, Venezuela Coach

When the Venezuelan Football Federation began looking for a replacement for Rafael Dudamel, who resigned from his post, after repeatedly stating that "first and foremost nationalism." Nationalism that lasted until Atlético Mineiro (Brazil) offered him a contract that led him to be with that team for a month and three days before being expelled, the directors had contacted Jorge Sampaoli who, according to journalistic versions, came to the meeting with a very complete analysis of Venezuelan footballers and soccer players that even included the formation of three national teams, something that Peseiro, with his little or no knowledge of South American football, did not do.

The truth is that Peseiro will now have to organize the next qualifying rounds against Brazil and Chile, with more references and time, to avoid the delay in the changes, the improvisation of players from the left wing, the exclusion of vital names, the assignment of responsibilities. wrong and messy play; which was a stage surpassed since Richard Páez marked a before and after the "vinotinto" in the international concert.

Meanwhile in Ecuador, the fans await the next double date, confident in the good game and the prompt obtaining of positive results from Gustavo Alfaro and the team he leads, to make the dream of being present at the Qatar World Cup 2022 come true.

See you soon

Dango